Student Performs on 'Good Morning, Texas'

8/26/13 - ASHLAND, Ohio - Wellington resident Jacob Poiner, who is a senior theatre major at Ashland University, had the opportunity to perform on “Good Morning, Texas” this summer.

Poiner is the son of Michael and Beverly Poiner of Wellington, and is a 2010 graduate of Wellington Senior High School.

Poiner and the rest of the members from the cast of the show, "The Night the Music Died: The Last Concert of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and The Big Bopper," performed on the Good Morning, Texas show.

“Good Morning Texas is the regional version of Good Morning America,” Poiner said. “We arrived, set up and ran through our set to make sure choreography had adequate space, and then we waited for our time in the lineup of programs.”

Poiner admitted the performance was “a little nerve-wracking” at first. “Television requires you to be on 24/7 otherwise you run the risk of looking like a fool on live television,” he explained.

“The Night the Music Died is a built show that we learned from the ground up, the only ‘script’ we had to work on was the experience of the director who had been Buddy Holly in previous productions of the show,” Poiner said. “It was a re-creation of the last concert of the three rock musicians at the Surf Ballroom in Clearlake, Iowa, before their tragic plane crash that next morning.”

Poiner said he was fortunate enough to be promoted to the role of The Big Bopper for this show, which was quite a large role to fill since he was known for being a very eccentric performer in songs such as Chantilly Lace and Little Red Riding Hood, which were the two songs in the performance.

“Working with everyone was absolutely wonderful,” Poiner said. “I was fortunate enough to get to meet and work with individuals from top ranked universities for drama such as Carnegie-Mellon University, Boston Conservatory and New York University, which was awesome to see what they brought to the creative table for their roles.”

Poiner stated that he would not have been able to get that role without the knowledge that he had learned at Ashland University.

“Working with my acting professors at Ashland helped me bring a heightened level of acting technique to my art -- in acting, singing, dancing and professionalism; all of which allowed me to successfully create the role of The Big Bopper in my not so large physique,” Poiner said.

Not only did Poiner bring his skills to the musical, he was able to learn and bring new skills back to the Ashland campus for his senior year.

“I bring back with me a refined form of professionalism, as well as a larger drive for success in terms of auditions and booking shows,” Poiner said. “I also learned how to manage time better in order to meet the quick week and a half turnover for the shows. But mostly, I bring back a huge appreciation for being close to my loved ones at home and at school.”

Ashland University, ranked in the top 200 colleges and universities in U.S. News and World Report’s National Universities category for 2013, is a mid-sized, private university conveniently located a short distance from Akron, Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio. Ashland University (www.ashland.edu) values the individual student and offers a unique educational experience that combines the challenge of strong, applied academic programs with a faculty and staff who build nurturing relationships with their students. ###